First of all, let me apologize for my lack of posting, mostly to my fellow Doctors. I’ve got a lot to say, it just takes the time to put the words down. Now that Cars is wrapped for me I’ll hopefully find the time to pay attention to this blog.

Okay, I’m done feeling guilty now.

Last semester one of my students asked for tips on how to put together a good reel. I had actually started to write down some tips for a reel when Dr. Gordon, our most prolific Splinedoctor, beat me to the post. However, I still feel I might have a unique “inside” opinion on this topic, being that I’ve had to sit through my fair share of reel reviews (and hundreds of mediocre-to-bad reels!). So here I go: I’m going to give you some tips from my perspective as a Supervising Animator at Pixar for things to consider when putting a reel together to send to a studio. Some of this will overlap some of what Dr. Gordon already said:

1) Research the Company Your Applying To . Do you think that animation departments at companies like Pixar, ILM, and Electronic Arts are looking for the same types of reels? Would you send the same exact reel to each of these studios? Well, my first piece of advice is to tailor each submission specifically to the type of work that studio does or is looking for. Pixar does traditional character animation, specifically for features. ILM animators tend to do special effects animation for live action movies (usually monsters, aliens, spaceships, etc). Electronic Arts probably needs animators that can get across a good sense of physics and action since they are a video game company, but mostly cycles for the game itself. No matter how great your dinosaur fighting a space alien animation is, it ain’t gonna get you in Pixar’s door unless it’s complemented by some great character pieces that show original acting choices. If you send a hand drawn, stylized student film to Electronic Arts, they may not be interested either as they need people with computer experience. if you’re missing the work needed for a specific studio it’s time to go back to the drawing board to do more work to round out your reel.

2) Most reels are too long. I’d rather see 30 seconds of superbly executed character animation than 3 minutes of mediocrity. Keep your reel short and sweet. If the work isn’t good, we won’t make it to the end; we’ll take the tape out and move on to the next reel. And that happens more than you wanna know. . .

3) Cut the fat. We don’t need to see your entire development through every animation class you’ve ever gone through. Put your best work on your reel and cut the rest. Yeah, we’ve all done the bouncing ball and a walk cycle, but I don’t need to see it. Let’s move on to the good stuff, shall we?

4) Good pacing is important. But isn’t it a good idea to start off with your earlier stuff to really “wow” us with your advancement? Think again. What if we get bored with your Animation 1 class work and eject your tape, only to miss some gem you animated in a later class? Start your reel off with something strong to hook us. A good rule of thumb would be to begin and end with your two strongest pieces and to fill the middle with your other best work.

5) Clean sound and a good picture please. If you’ve got a dialogue test and we can’t understand it, that’s a problem. Make sure the sound is clean and clear. And maybe make sure you pick a track that is that way BEFORE you animate to it anyway. Makes perfect sense, huh? And good picture means exactly that. If it’s a pencil test, make sure there is enough contrast to see it. If it’s computer animation, be sure to render it in a way that is clear.

6) Please don’t loop shots more than once. If we want to see it again, trust me, we’ll PLAY it again. It’s really easy to do with the rewind button.

7) Be honest and clear about which work is yours. I cannot express how extremely important this is. I don’t know how many times I’ve looked at a reel that has a LOT of animation on it, obviously done by more than one person and I’ve got some complex description I’ve got to cross reference to figure out who did what. Or even worse, the person applying for the job wants me to assume they did all the work on the reel. This is extremely unprofessional. My recommendation: find a clear way to visually show only the work you did. If your shot falls in between other people’s work, edit it together so your work shows up in color and the other work is in black and white. Or. Only. Show. Work. That. Is. Yours. Comprende?

The Good, Bad, n’ Ugly About Student Films. I’m going to be extremely frank for a moment: most student films aren’t that good (but then again, most Hollywood movies aren’t that good). I am not going to watch a 6 minute turkey. Sorry. However, there are rare cases where I’m drawn in because the quality is so high. How do you know if it’s good enough? Well, that leads me to. . .

9) Be Honest With Yourself. One of the hardest things about being an artist, but the most useful, is the ability to take a step back from the work; to step “outside of oneself” and give an honest self critique. That is how the best work is created; it is built up, destroyed, and built up again in a lively, plastic, ever-changing process. If you’re not sure if you’re work is appealing, you may simply not be cut out to do the job. And of course usually the best artists have other friends with similar eyes to bounce their work off of, so if you can’t always be honest with yourself, don’t be stupid and ignore the wisdom of others!

10) Sometime You Just Need to Try Again. Maybe you’re really good, but the studio just ain’t hiring at that time. Well, buckle down Bucko and keep doing better work for your reel. And submit it again when they’ve posted positions. Just don’t stalk us. Like everyone else we really don’t respond well to that.

11) It’s the Animation Stoopid. We don’t care if it’s rendered, you’re a good modeler, or if you know how to use every animation program. This seems obvious, but it’s about who you are, what you’ve got to say, and the amazing work you do. Show me the animation! I don’t give a squirrel’s butt if you’re an expert at Softimage. AND ALSO: I’m writing this blog submission as an ANIMATOR looking at ANIMATION REELS. I could just as well be saying, “It’s the Drawings Stoopid” or “It’s the Programming Experience Stoopid”. If you’re interested in applying for Story, Layout, Art, Technical Director Positions, etc. you’re reading the wrong post (well, some of this advice is general enough to help I hope). See Tip #1 about researching the company; you also want to research the positions they’re looking for!

12) Be kind, rewind that VHS & keep your DVD simple. This may sound ridiculously simple, but please have your tape cued so we can pop it in and watch it. It’s really annoying to wait five minutes only to find we’ve rewinded the worst reel we’ve ever seen. I’m also very partial to the DVD reel now. It’s kinder on the environment and I know I’m not gonna have to rewind it. But be careful! Don’t make me navigate through some complex DVD menu. If you can just make it automatically play when it’s put in that’s great. Or give me ONE option that is clear (HIT PLAY).

13) No gimmicks please; your work speaks for itself. We don’t need any disclaimers. We don’t need fancy packaging. While we’re always amused when we get a reel that looks like a submission for Survivor, it won’t get you anywhere near an interview. A resume and cover letter are always important and appropriate, but are never noticed unless the reel is extraordinary. All this being said, there are still a lot of people that will send their insane reels anyway. And I’m glad, because we’ll have fun watching them and laughing and moving on to hire you, the great animator who sent us what we wanted in the first place.

14) Do Great Animation. This is the hardest part. If you’re a great animator, we’re interested. If you don’t think your reel is up for the scrutiny, keep working on you animation chops. Simple advice huh?

Well, that’s it. I’m sure I could think of even more stuff, but I’ve crammed as much as I can into this. Good Luck!

-Scott

23 Comments |

David Bernal R

Thanks,Good post, I get it:Show your good work, make it easy for the hiring company.

February 23, 2006 @ 2:44 pm

nickv

thanks for the post, i remeber trying to get that first gig and wondering what should or should not be on the reel, that is by far the best reel tips section i have read to date.

Looking forward to seeing cars for sure…

February 23, 2006 @ 3:23 pm

Dr. Gordon

That is one good post Dr Clark. Welcome back to Spline Doctors… I cant wait for more great stuff like that. Why am I writing this, you sit right next to me….

-Andrew

February 23, 2006 @ 3:48 pm

Bobby P

So you guys are hiring right now? =P

February 23, 2006 @ 4:05 pm

Alaa Taleb

WOW….AmazingThanks alote Dr.Sclark please Keep going and give us more stuff..OKwe are waiting you

-Alaa

February 23, 2006 @ 5:43 pm

Barry

Thanks for the post. Very cool and informative. One thing I have been wondering lately, is for a place like Pixar, I know you guys always say its just about the animation, and you really just need to see good acting and all that. But, when putting that kind of stuff on a reel, are you more partial to something that is done with an original character or has an interesting look? If someone just has 3 or 4 dialogue tests from recognizeable movies with a lowman or generi rig, but is still done really really well, is that enough?

February 23, 2006 @ 7:05 pm

Dr. Sclark

Good question Barry. I could do a whole other post about what kind of material to pick to animate to. Wait. . .maybe that’ll be my next post!

A short answer to your question though Young Grasshopper: Great Animation Always Has Original Ideas. And yes, dialogue picked from a movie can help inspire some of those ideas.

I’ll get that post worked out soon. . .

February 23, 2006 @ 9:33 pm

Hector

Great post. Looking forward to the post about material to animate for reels. These are all things I’ve felt have always been missing from reel tips from other sources.Keep it going guys!

February 23, 2006 @ 10:44 pm

Doron Meir

Hehe, good post, all the classic mistakes… also there’s the issue of reels beginning with 30 seconds of applicant’s name smartly animated into existence, along with some energetic music and lots of impressive visual effects

February 24, 2006 @ 12:47 am

somu

Very direct n honest, great post! Back to animating….Thanks a ton Dr Sclark!

February 24, 2006 @ 5:12 am

Jorge

Thanks for posting this!As an animation student, I can’t tell you how valuable this is for me to read.

February 24, 2006 @ 10:35 am

Jenny

I don’t animate in CG(although I am using a Cintiq right now), but my gosh, that post is an absolute must for any applying artist in animation. Isn’t it shocking that these precepts aren’t more often taught, or offered? You’ve done a great thing with this post. In fact, your entire site is a darned generous thing. I tip my chapeau to you, sirs! Great stuff.

February 24, 2006 @ 1:00 pm

Vitor Vilela

Hey Doctors.

First comment here at your blog. Just wanna say how gratefull I’m to read those excelent articles and tips from you guys. Please keep posting, cause I’ll keep learning

C-YaVitor Vilela

February 24, 2006 @ 1:15 pm

Mark DeRidder

What about accompanying your demo reel with a portfolio of drawings? Do you guys usually look at them? What kind of drawings would you like to see in a portfolio? Anatomy or life drawings? Characitures?

Also, is it really a waste of time to try and package your reels nicely? Should I not bother with a nice cover and case? Should I just stick to the image you chose for this blog article?:) That would be MUCH easier, and then maybe I would have more time to get Company-specific reels out the door!:) It’s such an effort to put these things together, it seems.

Oh and thanks for the article! Great stuff!

February 24, 2006 @ 11:29 pm

anthea

Thanks for that post doctor!! It all comes down to putting your best foot forward, and for your animation to improve it’s going to take patience and practice. no amount of flying logos will get you that animation job.

And good call with mentioning to tailor your reel to the specific company you want to work for. The type of animation you hope to work in should be a goal set early on in your education. For me the moment i went from “wanting to be an animator” to “wanting to be an animator on CG films”, it opened a whole new direction and focus for me. I started thinking more about the kind of animation I wanted to do professionally and gave me that feature quality level to strive for.

February 25, 2006 @ 3:05 pm

Dave

Great post! I’m a recent grad student so its great to read those tips. Really helpful!

February 26, 2006 @ 7:33 pm

Marie

Thanks a lot for the tips, the reel is both a great thing to create, and an incredible stress too as we never know if its worth it LOL…

Im currently reworking on mine right now, so I will carefully re-read your message to be sure to do a decent one…

One question though… What do you think of putting some work in progress in a reel? Im talking about acting stuff that I didnt have time to finish because of a new job/whatever, that are not finished, but have a nice/interesting blocking? Is it “accepted”? Just wondering

serena henderson

Your blog is always lifesaver, and this post is no acception. Thank you for the insider tips and you guys’ time in posting interviews, anecdotes, and advice.

You rock!

March 21, 2006 @ 1:27 pm

Andy

Yo Dr. Scott, thanks for the awesome tips! It’s always good to get this information reaffirmed.

Alright, back to the creampuffs…

March 21, 2006 @ 6:26 pm

Anonymous

This is kind of late, but what do you guys like to see in an animator’s FLAT portfolio? Anything else besides figure drawing?

Thanks!

March 26, 2006 @ 6:46 pm

Paul

Hi guys,
I have a question and I wasn’t sure where to ask it. I see that this post is three years old, but it seemed like the right place to ask. Here it is…
What sort of material would make for a good STORY REEL. I want to start applying for story positions and am not sure what I should include on my reel. In an effort to keep it short and sweet, should I just show one, two or three examples of some storyboarding I’ve done? Is it important to show different moods\pacing. For example, should I show a short humorous piece and a short action sequence and a short dramatic piece all on one reel. Should I also show some character design work and\or an animation example or two. I don’t imagine I would have to send in the actual boards (unless asked to) so should any boarding work be timed out and shot with music and sound effects added? Or just times out and shot with no sound added?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.